Seven Basic Quality Management Tools

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Seven Basic Quality tools documents

Definition of Quality Management -- it is a method for ensuring that all the activities necessary to design, develop and implement a
product or service are effective and efficient with respect to the system and its performance. It is also a principle set by the company
to endure the continuous advocacy of quality services and products, or the further improvement of it.

Welcome to QT-charts knowledge base section.
Hopefully you will find some of them useful in your work. (Read articles below to learn more.)

Green Manufacturing

As companies embark on the uncharted territory of the new technology age of the
21st century, companies are expanding their competitive horizon and
entering in international markets. In hopes to prosper and exceed the demands
of the everyday changing environment that exists domestically and abroad,
companies are incorporating a variety of tools to meet these demands and
enhance their performance. Over the years, due to the availability and
advancement in technology, environmental issues and governmental regulations
concerning the manufacturing industry has become a problem that can’t be
“tossed under the pile” as it has been in the past.

In order to compete in international markets, industries must conform to these
regulatory standards. One of the most difficult strategic challenges that the
manufacturing industry faces, is the impeded overseas environmental
regulations. With the movement towards a more environmentally friendly atmosphere,
countries are imposing stricter environmental conformances. With the concept
of the Green Manufacturing, companies are able to meet those regulations and
also incur lower production costs in the process.

Green Manufacturing is a method for manufacturing that minimizes waste and
pollution. It slows the depletion of natural resources as well as lowering the
extensive amounts of trash that enter landfills. Its emphasis is on reducing
parts, rationalizing materials, and reusing components, to help make products
more efficient to build.

The
reason it is such an important tool is because it intertwines with today’s
manufacturing strategies of global sourcing, concurrent engineering, and total
quality.

Green
Manufacturing is implemented through product and process design. Its goal is to
achieve sustainability to support future generations and at the same time
preserve our natural resources

The concept of Green Manufacturing has its roots from Germany that requires
importing companies to take responsibility and remove any packaging materials
used for that product. In fact, the Germans have established a de facto global
manufacturing standard instilling that, “any U.S. companies wishing to compete
globally must start making products that will comply with the green dictates of
the huge European market.”

A common approach to using Green Manufacturing has been through Design for
Disassembly (DFD) or also known as Manufacturing for Reuse. Design for
Disassembly is making products to come apart easier. Stated by Bylinsky, “The
goal is to close the production loop, to conceive, develop, and build a product
with a long-term view of how its components can be refurbished and reused at
the end of the product’s life.” Using DFD saves time, money, improves quality,
saves resources and materials, and makes products easier to recycle. It also
is used to reduce the number of parts contained in a product thus the fewer the
parts, the faster the disassembly process will be. Instead of using traditional
“nuts & bolts” in the assembly, using snap fits are an alternative since
welded or glued parts are harder to separate. Thus, when entering the tear down
phase of the product, a dismantler will be able to pull parts faster than they
can be unscrewed. For example, Square D Co.’s metal circuit-breaker box
contained 173 parts. The redesigned injection molded plastic box has only 42
parts.

Part consolidation is also another aspect of Design for Disassembly. Since
there are fewer pieces to manufacture, energy costs in production are saved.
Industry Weeks states, “Design for Disassembly is one way that we’re trying to
make products more environmentally responsible. It’s designing the product so
that it can be disassembled inexpensively. If we can’t do that, we’ll never get
anywhere in the recycling process.”

Another important piece to recognize in Design for Disassembly, is the
selection of materials used in products. To consolidate and have fewer parts
used for a product, it becomes easier to track and separate the item. For
example, The parts used in the “Ukettle” (the first available recyclable
appliance) created by Polymer Solutions, made from a modified polyphenylene
oxide, has the names and numbers of the types of plastic they’re made of,
molded into their inside. Therefore, when the products life is over, those
parts can easily be separated and placed into the right bins for proper
removal. It is also found that it is easier to recycle products that aren’t
made of many different materials.

An example of how Green Manufacturing has valuable products being redesigned in
the U.S. to conform to the environmentally friendly environment, is in the
automobile industry. Almost everywhere cars are built, they have high efforts
to make them more applicable for disassembly and to reuse their parts. The
U.S. already reuses 75% of American cars, done mostly by scrap yards and
shredders. Stated by Bylinshy, “Cars are first stripped of valuable parts such
as engines, generators, alternators, and other components that can be
refurbished and sold by some 12,000 auto parts recyclers. Also, the metal
carcasses end up in the gapping maws of some 200 shredders that reduce the
metal skeletons to steel fragments, which are shipped to steel makers to make
more car bodies.” This can lower recycling costs dramatically and reduce
environmental hazards.

The
remaining 25% of the car consists mainly of plastics and foam rubber. Every
year roughly 3 million tons of this ends up in landfills. Therefore, General
Motors, Chrysler and Ford form the Vehicle Recycling Partnership to develop
ways to recover and reuse much of the remaining scrap from the vehicles as
possible.

Design for Disassembly and Reuse continues to grow around the world as the need
for resources and available space continue to diminish. Many European
countries are quicker to adopt Green Manufacturing than the U.S. due to the
lack of a mechanism for coordinating efforts in producing environmentally
critical technologies. DFD exemplifies the growing concern for the environment
and it will continue to be a part of manufacturing companies that choose, and
in some cases need to import overseas to compete in today’s competitive
marketplace. However, there always exists a resistance to change in any
environment, and this resistance will be a strategic challenge for U.S.
companies to overcome as they pursue excellence through the tool of Green
Manufacturing. If you would like further information on Green Manufacturing
the resources listed are helpful.